Exit rollway for rolled bars or rods in particular flat or profiled bars, with transverse conveyance device

ABSTRACT

An exit rollway in particular for flat bars or rods, provides lateral conveyance of the moving bars or rods by means of an oscillating grate system known for cooling beds, wherein grate members extending from the stationary grate and from the displaceable grate are provided with a plurality of slide channel sections of equal lengths having chamfered entry ends.

Elite States atet Buehlieit June 27, 1972 [54] EXIT ROLLWAY FOR ROLLED BARS 0R RODS IN PARTECULAR FLAT OR PRDFHLED BARS, WETH TRANSVERSE (IONVEYANKIE DEVECE [72] Inventor: Otto Karl Buchheit, St. lngbert (Saar) Germany Mueller & Neumann G.m.b.H, St. Ingbert (Saar) Germany [22] Filed: Jan. 2, 1970 [21] Appl.N0.: 46

[73] Assignee:

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 4, 1969 Germany ..P 19 00 447.8

[52] U.S. Cl ....l98/219, 198/107 [51] im. c1 ..B65g 25/04 581 FieldolSearch ..19s/1o7,219

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 863,841 8/1907 George ..l98/2l9 1,950,377 3/1934 Allen 2,874,650 2/1959 Royer 3,462,004 8/1969 Hill 198/219 Primary Examiner-Edward A. Sroka Attorney-John J. Dennemeyer [5 7] ABSTRACT An exit rollway in particular for flat bars or rods, provides lateral conveyance of the moving bars or rods by means of an oscillating grate system known for cooling beds, wherein grate members extending from the stationary grate and from the displaceable grate are provided with a plurality of slide channel sections of equal lengths having chamfered entry ends.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUHZY m2 3 672.489

OTTO K. BUCHHEIT EXIT ROLLWAY FOR ROLLED BARS OR RODS IN PARTICULAR FLAT R PROFILED BARS, WITH TRANSVERSE CONVEYANCE DEVICE This invention relates to an exit rollway for rolled bars or rods, in particular fiat or profiled bars or rods, with a transverse conveyance device which permits rolled bars or rods travelling in fast succession to be conveyed transversely while they are still sliding longitudinally.

Exit rollways known heretofore for fast bar succession, i.e., short cooling bed length, operate with lifting members which can be controlled upwardly and downwardly, and a distribution of the slide path or the slide period to a plurality of brake channels is made possible therein by the provision of one or more intermediate channels. The functional reliability of such rollways, however, is limited when the bars follow one another in very fast succession or when the bars offer too high a resistance to the desired lateral sliding movement because of their shape. When the rolled bars have a circular cross-section, they are transferred by a lifting member which is provided with inclined b'ottom plates and is raised into the high position, as soon as they are lifted thereby over a vertical support wall. However, this operation is unlikely to take place in the case of flat or profiled bars or rods. The period of time which is needed by such rolled bars or rods for-sliding off an inclined bottom plate of a brake member determines the possibilities which are available'for shortening the bar succession period, in a multiple brake channel arrangement as described in German Pat. No.l,066,528.

The fact that the brake and lifting member construction principle is unsuitable for high speeds is known.. It is also known to provide rotary bodies with radially extending rails distributed uniformly over the periphery thereof for the purpose of removing travelling rolled bars and rods from a rollway and conveying them transversely away therefrom. These drum-like rotary bodies, however, must be quickly accelerated and decelerated from bar to bar in order to avoid that in the case of a fast bar succession the bars impinge on the radial rails. In view of the large masses of these rotary bodies this problem can be solved only with a considerable expenditure of electrical installation (see German Pat. No. 1,081,403).

In solving the problem to provide an exit rollway associated with transverse conveyance device without pusher members for rolled bars or rods, in particular flat or profiled bars or rods, which permits rolled bars or rods travelling in fast succession to be conveyed transversely while they are still sliding longitudinally, without the need for making particularly high demands on the electric installation, the invention proposes that the transverse conveyance device comprises an oscillating grate system having grates provided with grate members of serrated cross-sectional shape, the grates being movable relatively to each other wherein the serrations of each grate member form slide channel sections of the same length and each such section is chamfered at the inlet end. In respect of the drive and in respect of the shape of the serrations of the grates, one of which is stationary and the other of which is displaceable, the oscillating grate system according to the invention is similar to the known grate cooling beds, with the difference, however, that the grates of the latter cooling beds consist of grate bars which are disposed at a spacing from each other and which exclude further sliding of bars during the stepwise transfer. According to the invention the surfaces of the grate members are enlarged to form slide channel sections of equal length, the length of such channel sections depending on the stiffness of the material to be received, whereby a slide channel system for stepwise lateral conveyance is provided the drive of which does not present further problems.

The length of the slide channel sections depends upon the stiffness of the rolled material for the reason that the material is supported along its whole length only when all slide channel sections are flush with each other, but is supported during an operating cycle of the oscillating grate system only by the slide channel sections of the displaceable grate or only by the slide channel sections of the stationary grate. The length of the slide channel sections determines also the width of the gaps between the supporting sections which gaps must not be so large that the leading bar ends which are not supported during their forward movement sag to such extent that they abut against the edge at the inlet of the next section. The slide channel sections, or the gaps of equal lengths between them, must not be too narrow, because when the leading ends of the bars run upon the chamfered or downwardly cranked edge at the inlet of the sections some unrest is always imported into the forward movement of the rolled bars; this unrest must not be increased unnecessarily. When the smallest thickness of fiat bars being manipulated is 4 mm the slide channel sections should have a length of, for example, between and 200 Continuous operation of the oscillating system is theoretically possible when the frequency of succession of the bars or rods can be kept constant. Since, however, this is not always possible, a further development of the invention proposes that at the beginning or end of an operating cycle of the oscillating grate system the grate members of the grates are arranged to come to rest in a position such that the slide channel sections are flush one with the other. The starting movement of the displaceable grate can then be initiated dependently upon the bar succession by means of photoelectric devices.

One embodiment of an exit rollway associated with a transverse conveyance device in the manner of an oscillating channel system according 'to the invention is described below by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an oscillating channel system in conjunction with a device for collecting groups or stacks of flat bars, in cross-section through a grate member provided with slide channel sections of the stationary grate, and

FIG. 2 illustrates a vertical section along the line lI-Il in FIG. I.

FIG. 1 illustrates a rollway having rollway rollers l which are driven by motors 2. A side wall 3 limits a run up channel for rolled material 4, and ejector flaps 5 are mounted therein pivotal about vertical axes in a quickly actuable manner. The flaps 5 serve for pushing the rolled material 4 which arrives on the rollway rollers 1 laterally off the latter and on to a transverse conveyance device described below. One of .the ejector flaps 5 is in the ejecting position illustrated by chain-link lines.

Adjacent to the run up channel having the rollway rollers 1 there is disposed the transverse conveyance device referred to above, constructed in the manner of an oscillating grate system which comprises a stationary grate 6 with grate members 6a, extending therefrom towards the rollway, the grate members 6a incorporating successive adjacently disposed slide channel sections and an oscillating grate 7 with grate members 78 incorporating slide channel sections which have the same lengths, the grate members 7a being arranged to pass through the gaps between the grate members 6a. As may be seen from FIG. 2 the grate members 6a and 7a are chamfered or cranked downwardly at the entry end of the channel sections formed therein in order that bars 4 advancing in the direction of the arrow do not abut against a sharp edge at the entry of a following slide channel section when they sag slightly in the gaps between two successive sections. In order to limit the sagging of the leading bar ends which are not support in the gaps, so that the travel of the rods 4 is not unduly impeded during the transfer from one brake channel to another, the length a (FIG. 2) which is the same for all channel sections is arranged to lie for example in the range of from 100 to 200 mm when the smallest thickness of the flat material to be manipulated is 4 mm.

The drive for the oscillating grate 7 comprises a plurality of eccentric discs 8 on which the oscillating grate which includes a longitudinal carrier 9 is supported by cross-carriers l0 and roller pairs 11. During a revolution of the eccentric discs 8 each point of the oscillating grate 7 and thus of the grate members 7a performs a circular path 12 in the manner known for grate cooling beds, whereby the bars 4 travelling in the slide or brake channels are conveyed from one brake channel to the next adjacent brake channel. For guiding the oscillating grate 7 the longitudinal carriers 9 are connected to one end of crosscarriers 13 the other ends of which are guided by 'means of links 14.

The stationary grate 6 is connected to an inclined slide surface 15 on which the rolled bars 4a removed'from the last or outermost slide channel are deposited during a feed stroke of the oscillating grate 7 and from which the bars slide into a collecting pocket 16 for collecting groups or stacks of flat bars. In the drawing, an ejected flat bar 4a is shown which is just about to drop into the collecting pocket 16. Devices beyond the inclined slide surface 15 are not subject of the invention.

The construction according to the invention of an oscillating grate system comprising grate members 6a and 7a having slide channel sections of equal length formed therein, the length a of which is determined dependently upon the sag which the unsupported leading ends of the bars 4 must be expected to undergo between the slide channel sections of two grate members 6a or 7a disposed at a spacing from each other, makes it possible to receive the bars 4 in fast succession to convey them in steps during their sliding period, to keep them separate, and to vacate the first slide channel quickly when a next following bar is ejected from the rollway region. The drive of the eccentric discs 8 is preferably actuated bar by bar in that the arrival of a bar 4 in the first slide channel with the sections 6a is detected by a photoelectric device. The oscillating grate 7 begins its operating cycle from a rest position in which the channel sections of its grate member 7a are flush with the channel sections of the grate member 6a of the stationary grate 6, that is to say when it moves out of such flush position it begins immediately to lift a bar 4.

What is claimed is:

1. For use with a rollway, a transverse conveyor device having an oscillating grate system comprising:

a. a plurality of fixed grate members having a serrated crosssectional shape and being positioned adjacent the rolly.

b. a plurality of grate members movable relative to said fixed grate members and also having a serrated cross-sectional shape,

c. the serrations of each of said fixed and movable grate members forming slide channel sections of substantially the same length, and each being provided with a cham fered entry end means for facilitating longitudinal sliding motion of the material, and

d. means for moving said movable grate members in an oscillating motion between said fixed grate members in an interdigitating manner for movement of material from one slide channel to another, thus moving the material the entire width of the grate members without requiring the stopping of its longitudinal movement.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for oscillating the movable grate members relative to the fixed grate members includes a rest position wherein respective channel sections are substantially flush with each other at a time in the oscillatory cycle when the movable grate members are changing direction.

3. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein said oscillating means includes at least one eccentric disc having a pair of rollers supported thereon. 

1. For use with a rollway, a transverse conveyor device having an oscillating grate system comprising: a. a plurality of fixed grate members having a serrated crosssectional shape and being positioned adjacent the rollway, b. a plurality of grate members movable relative to said fixed grate members and also having a serrated cross-sectional shape, c. the serrations of each of said fixed and movable grate members forMing slide channel sections of substantially the same length, and each being provided with a chamfered entry end means for facilitating longitudinal sliding motion of the material, and d. means for moving said movable grate members in an oscillating motion between said fixed grate members in an interdigitating manner for movement of material from one slide channel to another, thus moving the material the entire width of the grate members without requiring the stopping of its longitudinal movement.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for oscillating the movable grate members relative to the fixed grate members includes a rest position wherein respective channel sections are substantially flush with each other at a time in the oscillatory cycle when the movable grate members are changing direction.
 3. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein said oscillating means includes at least one eccentric disc having a pair of rollers supported thereon. 